The XJ-S had an unenviable task. Replace the E-Type while taking Jaguar into a whole new market segment, take on the best Mercedes-Benz had to offer, and succeed in spite of its British Leyland birth. In time, it did just that.
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Lovely car… đ
An excellent review, well told story of the big GT cat. Wish I had bought one when they where afordable old cars. Enjoyed watching, Nice one.
18:00… oh my god, I'm still laughing!
You are so good making reviews, very well documented and profesional speech, improving each time, but the fine sense of humor you offer here is absolutely out of the scale, you're THE BEST, and so young… that will be a good road, I'll follow it!
you didn't mention the in-board rear brakes!!? Did you? Great show!!
Thanks for a great entertaining review. I was part of the tiny Jaguar engineering team that took this car into it's final 6.0l V12 form early in my career. Was probably about the same age as you are now Ed. Wonderful times many happy miles driven in one of these.
For me the best of breed are the last generation 4.0 6 cylinder and 6 liter V12 cars.
I had a one in this colour for 16 years , toured all over Europe , never let me down and only had a blown high pressure steering hose but could still drive to the garage for replacement, sold with 86000 on the clock just to upgrade to XKR ,it was great GT
I saw a lilac XJS at the motor show in 1975.It was a Daily Express competition prize.Love them to this day.
Absolutely right. I think its biggest crime when it came out was that it wasn't an E Type. And didn't want to be. I remember it's launch very clearly. I saw one last month, in a lay-by parked behind an Audi TT. The Audi looked old, fat and brutal. The XJS looked sleek, timeless and classic. The XJS was a stiletto next to a axe. I loved it when it was new, and love it still. And its styling lent itself perfectly to the full convertible when it eventually came out. (Unlike the clumsy cabriolet).
Gud vid đ
Brilliant in depth history of me favourite car ever. I have a 1978 pre he and love it. Good man for not calling them âflying buttressesâ!
People forget that the E-type never had a wooden dash, the XJ-S was continuing that âtraditionâ.
Hello young man. May I ask what year that XJS V12 is ? I have an 19 and 88 XJS V12 coupe similar to the one you put forward to your viewers. My Jag looks quite similar to that one, with similar headlamps and the basket weave wheels. Although mine is black in colour. Only one thing, those small vent windows at the front of the main side windows, an awful shame that they don't open, I would rather have that instead of having to put on the blower for air. The car really should have had a 4 speed auto transmission. Carry on young man, good work and all that !
A superb explanation of how a once maligned car rose above the riff-raff of crass tabloid car scuz and spread its beautiful wings. Yes it was, and is a superlative touring car, not a sports car like the earlier E-Type models. Itâs a beautiful thing, especially those rear buttresses that you so well pointed out. That sort of architecture doesnât get much criticism when itâs on Salisbury Cathedral.
This is a majestic beast of a cat. As you say, it simply got better with age, with ironically the previous âSaintâ driving Richard Burton around London in âThe Wild Geeseâ while I made do with a Corgi toy (in white obviously and with the stick man Saint logo on the bonnet) belonging to his long forgotten successor. I guess that was an in-joke at the time, probably conjured up by Euan Lloyd and Roger Moore.
Somehow surviving the curse of BL, the Jag got better. Mine was the 5.3 V12 in obligatory Midnight Blue with 5 spoke alloys. The bonnet was so long and you sit very low. You mentioned the fuel injection spaghetti – even my Mechanic refuses to touch itâŚ
The most visually appealing thing about anyXJS are those stunning headlights – sort of stretched octagonal and jet cat like – put to best effect in an opening scene in âScent of a Womanâ when the evil headmaster (straight out of Shawshank Redemption) drove his brand new one up the school drive.
The car only became a full convertible a decade or more after its introduction and, as the figures show, continued to sell better than ever.
My favorite ride in my 1981 XJS has to be from London to Lisbon. Fair to say the fuel economy is so bad that itâs cheaper to hire a jet and and a convertible at the other end. But that drive was sublime.
Glad the steering wheel is right in front of you. On my Skoda, the steering wheel is right on the other side of the car so I have to lean right over. I suppose it is an LHD though.
Thanks for the vid Ed.
I've never liked the styling of the XJS from this period though could never understand why. However when you began talking about the bumpers and how they complied with U.S regulations… that's it! Now I'm aware of this, I can see that this car could be (bumpers aside) stunningly beautiful.
Chuffing sublime! Never said better. Well done.
You have made absolutely the best movie about XJS what I ever saw. I am a lucky owner of US version from 1988., I am now working on it and I hope to place a registration plates still this spring to enjoy this incredible and real British V12. I my opinion when Ford bought Jag in 1989 than the history of Jag had been ended. Today cars with "Jaguar" on them has nothing common with model you perfectly described and tested. It is a pitty but In the same way as RR is BMW and Bentley is VW.
The thing about car styling is that it is always of its time. I remember the XJS being launched and I hated the concave flying buttress. It just didn't blend well with the front half of the car. The headlamps were a bit of an odd shape. Unlike the XJ saloon or the E-Type the styling just didn't gel. Now 48 years later it doesn't look so bad, but that is only because modern cars are even weirder. Only this morning I was observing weird twisted teardrop shaped headlamps on the cars travelling the other way, and their totally discordant flank styling, and thought to myself "what were they thinking of?". So yes, put it amongst the current crop of monstrosities and the XJS looks fabulous.
My first memory of this was when Simon Templer had a white one in the Return of the Saint, 1978ish đ
Well produced vlog.
If you've got a v12 on the drive fuel consumption is'nt a issue would I own one? obsolutely.
As usual, Ed, your script, research and narration is second to none.
But yeah. That particular XJS makes me very, very moist.
Nicely written intro paean to the XJ-S, and not a car I'd ever turn my back on — but, to me the 6 series was much more attractive – height notwithstanding – and (personal bias) a more involving driver's car. And of course Stateside, if you wanted a stick, what choice was there? Cost no object, I'm still partial to the Ferrari 400/412 series and to my mind it outclasses either of these in beauty, but an M6 or even 635 makes more sense to me than the XJ-S, especially in its initial V12 offering – 11 mpg in today's world for 2 seats and not much trunk? I'd actually take Series III XJ12L instead – I'd guess the Coupe is just about unobtainable – which is I think is better looking, and sexier actually.